Understanding
by Kat Bee Dee
Summary: Pete and Helena have trouble understanding one another.  At all.   Warning: Strong language


_**Disclaimer:**__ I do not own Warehouse 13 and its original characters or plots. If I did, there would be an artifact that forces people to review stories compulsively._

_**Author's Note: **__Well, here's something different for you all to read! It's a new perspective. Pete finding Helena post-Reset and basically getting all thoughts out in the open. It's just kind of an idea that came to me and I figured it wouldn't hurt anybody to write it down! Let me know what you think! =)_

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Her eyes were cold. Their blank darkness consumed her entire being. The deep brown irises seemed practically glazed over. They hardly showed any sign of having held the same liveliness he had witnessed in them before. More than anything, what bothered him the most was that no matter how long they sat, her eyes would not meet his.

Pete felt his jaw clenching. He couldn't believe he had ever come anywhere close to recognizing her as a friend. The pure, burning rage he felt toward her coursed through his veins. He could have ripped the chair on which he sat from the floor and thrown it across the room. He could have used his brute force the shove her against the wall, his fingers closing around her throat. And yet, somehow he found the restraint within him to sit, waiting awkwardly through the silence they had summoned to cover them like a thick, itchy blanket—waiting for her dead eyes to meet his.

"I know you blame me for everything." She finally spoke; her eyes preoccupied by her hands, clasped neatly in her lap.

"Damn right, I blame you," he snarled back. His knuckles went white as he grasped the arms of his chair. He threw his hot anger at her like daggers through his eyes, daring her to lift her gaze to catch the hatred in his eyes.

Helena sighed, tilting her head to the side. Her dark hair cascaded over her shoulder as she moved her line of vision dully to the wall. "I honestly don't know what to tell you, Pete. I fucked everything up for everyone. It already happened. I can't fix it, now. I can't go back. We both know things don't work that way. I'm sorry that you can't seem to understand."

"_I_ don't understand?" he spat incredulously. "You tore our _family_ apart, H.G.! And you don't even have the dignity to look me in the eye and say it! If there's anyone who doesn't fucking understand, it's you."

Her nostrils flared as he struck a cord, her eyes darting up at him. "Oh, is that so? I don't understand? How so? Please, explain. Because I'm pretty sure that as my _gun_ was forced to her _head_ I damn well understood what I had done."

Pete narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing her. "Oh, so that's it, eh? It all started and ended right there? You didn't spend _months_ thinking and planning and _tricking_ her slowly into believing you? Into _trusting_ you?" He forced a disgusted laugh. "You lied to her, H.G. You took advantage of her. Don't think I don't know. Don't think I don't know what you did to her!"

She shook her head solemnly, her eyes soft as they pierced his once more. "I know."

"You _know?_ That's all you have to say about it. Of course. 'You know'. Well, I beg to fucking differ." Pete fought to stay in his seat and keep his fury from launching him at her; claws bared. His throat tightened, squelching his next words to a choked out sentence, his voice faltering as his eyes reddened. "You broke her _heart_."

"Pete…" Her eyes fell guiltily to her hands.

"You _used_ her."

"I know."

"Yeah? Well, that kind of shit isn't 'okay' with me! That's my _friend _you toyed with! That's my—," his throat closed. He squeezed his eyes shut, a single tear quickly streaming down his cheek and falling from his chin.

"You don't think I saw, too?" her voice rose slightly, meeting him halfway in volume. "You don't think I saw the way you look at her when she isn't paying attention? You don't think I understand that you _love_ her? Look, I may be a shitty person who's done some fucking _shitty_ things, but that doesn't mean I'm blind, Pete! I understand human nature! I know what it means to _feel_."

His jaw wired itself shut. His head fell into his hands, his fingers raking through his hair. His voice became hoarse. "You don't know how to feel."

Her eyes floated to the ceiling in a fight to stay afloat in her own sea of thoughts and emotions and burdensome guilt. "I haven't been allowed to feel in over a century."

Pete's lip pulled back from his teeth in a snarl. "Now you've got a whole 'nother to stew in your own remorse."

"And you've got another to go out and fight for what you love." Helena hesitantly reached her hand out, placing it lightly on the knee of the broken man before her. Her eyes searched for his. "Don't waste it."

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_**A/N: **__That's that! Hope you enjoyed! Thanks for reading, and I sincerely hope you take a few moments to go down and click that little "review" button ;) Thanks again!_


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